Avoiding Eleocharis melt

[FishLifeLondon]

I'm going to be ordering some plants from Aquadepot as I'm going to the workshop in a weeks time and I wondered what I should get. I have a Seiryu Stone Iwagumi and as some of you might have seen I've struggled with a background plant. I had a relatively successful carpet of Helanthium Tennelum, but within a week it vanished. I don't know wether it melted away (there was a heatwave) or my Amano Shrimp ate it. I then added a vast amount of Eleocharis Acicularis and it got diatom algae and melted away or got eaten by my Amano Shrimp. I've seen some new growth which is algae free, but I think I should add some more. So, should I get tissue culture plants as they will adapt more easily and there will be more plants in comparison to pots? Additionally, should I trim all the leaves of like Jurjis does with Cryptocoryne?

It might be helpful to know that both aquariums lack CO2 addition, but use Aquasoil, fertilisers and I do weekly >50% water changes.

 

[tam]

It's grown emersed so the old leaves die and new grow in. It grows very easily emersed if you want to multiply it more quickly then transplant it.

 

[FishLifeLondon]

I got it in one of the Tropica tubs and i took a bit to plant and left some to grow, then I planted the rest. I planted a small clump for about every 2cm square, but I worry that it won't grow back fast in a CO2 limited environment. Do you know if Tissue culture Eleocharis will melt? If so should I just cut the leaves off?

 

[Konsa]

Hi
Few years back I used to cut the leaves and it worked good .Last time I got hair grass from Tropica tissue culture it did not melt at all.
Regards Konsa

 

[Onoma1]

I noticed that a few scapers cut it before planting. I planted a couple of tubs in my tank without cutting and most of it seemed to survive. As soon as I saw a few new roots I then cut it back and it seemed to respond really well to this and to grow more rapidly.

 

[FishLifeLondon]

Thanks for the advice. I'll get Tissue culture then.

I think that Onama's idea sounds interesting. Allow the plants to gain some energy until they throw out roots trim all the emerged leaves. Although with tissue culture they are young and lack energy stores? So maybe they'll struggle?

I think what I'll do is let it grow and cut of any leaves I see melting. I'm new to the planted aquarium and I think I've learnt a lot, mainly thanks to good advice on YouTube/UKAPS.